Author Archives: Rob Lagana

About Rob Lagana

Rob Lagana lives in the beautiful city of Ottawa and is certified through the International Federation of Bodybuilding and National Academy of Sports Medicine. Rob has 20 years of experience in training and creating programs for people. Some of his clients have been acknowledged and followed by ATV, CTV, Rogers, Sun Media. Rob Lagana is also an advisor and teacher in nutrition and bodybuilding to many qualified and experienced fitness trainers in Ottawa.

Where do all the calories I eat go?

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“A minute on the lips, a lifetime on the hips.”  Calories don’t always go to your hips though.

Metabolism really refers to the breakdown of food into energy that is used for every purpose required for life. The amount of energy contained in food is expressed in terms of kilocalories, which we commonly refer to as calories. This is a measurement of heat. In reality, food is “burned” inside our cells and most of the energy is trapped to be used for thousands of bodily processes. Some of this energy is released as heat to keep our bodies warm. This is similar to the fuel in your car’s engine. The fuel is burned and the energy released is mostly captured and used to propel your car. A small percentage of the energy produces heat that is mostly discharged into the environment or used to heat the inside of your car on a cold day.

Maintaining an ideal body weight has everything to do with balance. If we consume more calories than our body can burn, excess food will be stored as fat. In fact, even normal weight people store a great deal of energy that they could draw on in a famine situation. For example, a lean, 155-pound man carries about 35 pounds of fat on his body, which holds about 150,000 calories (kcal) of stored energy or enough to keep him alive during starvation for a couple of months. Most of the people live in a body that is composed of more than 50 percent fat. This means, for example, that a 250-pound person who is 50 percent fat carries 125 pounds or 437,500 calories (kcal) of energy on their body as stored fat. This much fat has the potential to provide all of their energy needs for almost one year!

 

What should I do if I’ve overeaten?

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The best thing to do is MOVE ON.  We all have days when we eat more than our bodies need, that is the rule, not the exception.  In two decades of practice as a nutrition counselor, I have never met someone who did not lose weight because of ONE episode of overeating.  The trouble starts when one episode stretches into an entire day, week, month – you get the picture.  You do NOT need to go on a very restrictive program to compensate for over eating.  But you should try to think about the circumstances that led up to the overeating — Too much tempting food around?  A stressful personal or work situation? Being too restrictive with your weight loss program so that it is very hard to maintain? – So that you can try to understand the behavior and practice correcting the response the next time around.

The Stress and Relaxation Response and How Belly Fat Is Made

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The “fight or flight response” is our body’s primitive, automatic, inborn response that prepares the body to “fight” or “flee” from perceived attack, harm or threat to our survival. When we experience excessive stress, whether from internal worry or external circumstance this bodily reaction is also triggered. Originally discovered by the great Harvard physiologist Walter Cannon, this response is hard-wired into our brains and represents a genetic wisdom designed to protect us from bodily harm. This response actually corresponds to an area of our brain called the hypothalamus, which—when stimulated—initiates a sequence of nerve cell firing and chemical release that prepares our body for running or fighting.

After studying the physiological effects of the ‘flight or fight’ stress response, Cardiologist Herbert Benson discovered that by eliciting the ‘relaxation response’ the opposite was also true (1996). This physiologic state of calm is an equally essential survival mechanism, providing us with the ability to heal and rejuvenate our bodies. Today, the relaxation response is crucial when considering how often the fight or flight response is triggered inappropriately.

When our minds become focused through deep breathing, meditation, repetitive prayer, or mantras, the body responds with dramatic affects. There is a decrease in heart rate, blood pressure and metabolic rate (Benson, 1996).

Under stress, the potential to store belly fat is much higher.  This is caused by certain hormone receptor sites in the abdominal region or center region of the body.

How does it get there? It’s absorbed via the intestines. But the key player is the omentum (the abdominal fat storage facility).  It’s the pouch you carry on your belly. The belly pouch!

So your omentum clears the cortisol steroids because it has receptors that bind to them and can suck them out of the bloodstream (unfortunately, this doesn’t necessarily reduce the stress level that you feel). The steroids turbo-charge the ability of omentum to store fat, so your belly fat (and subsequent waist size) become the best surrogate indicator of how well you are really coping with stress (despite what your brain might be claiming). That uptake of steroids throws your body in metabolic disarray by:

Making your omentum resistant to insulin so sugar floats around without being absorbed and used appropriately by needy cells, and this:

  1. Chronically raises your blood sugar, which damages our tissues;
  2. Super-charging your omentum with inflammatory chemicals that destabilize the delicate equilibrium of your hormones;
  3. Forcing your omentum to pump high-octane fat directly into your liver—causing your liver to make even more inflammatory chemicals.

Here is the bottom line, the human body will always function in a way that ensures survival for evolution. A lot of times this means the body will resist the changes we are trying to induce. When you are stressed out the last thing the body is likely to do is lose weight, specifically fat mass. I have found with a lot of clients that progress will come to a screeching halt due to excessive stress in their lives. Focus on decreasing your stress, creating a planned safe approach to exercise, getting in the right type of nutrition for your goals and which compliment your exercise and everything in life will become easier and more manageable!

How can I prevent a heart attack?

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It is important for you to understand your risk factors for having a heart attack or heart disease. If you understand what they are then you can change your lifestyle to reduce your risk factors and your chance of having a heart attack. Risk factors that can be reduced are: smoking, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high blood sugar, lack of exercise. You can reduce your chances by reducing your risk factors. Do not smoke, if you are overweight lose weight, if you have high blood pressure take your medications as your doctor prescribes and reduce the amount of salt you eat, if you have high cholesterol take your medication as prescribed and eat a diet low in fat, if you are diabetic take your medication as prescribed and follow your diet as prescribed, try to exercise per your doctor’s advice

Even if you have heart disease, there’s a lot you can do to improve your heart’s health.

Ask your doctor for help and when it comes to exercise and nutrition seek the help of a specialist, (ei: Qualified Personal Trainer with experience and a Certified Nutritionist),  your doctor can give you general good advice, but that only goes so far and some doctors, might even give you the wrong advice. Together, you can set goals to reduce the things that raise your risk of heart attack.

- Don’t smoke, and avoid other people’s tobacco smoke.

- Treat high blood pressure, if you have it.

- Eat a healthy diet that’s low in saturated fat, trans fat, and salt. Increase your good fats such as mono and polyunsaturates (good fish, nuts, seeds such as flax and hemp)

- Exercise at least 30 minutes on most or all days of the week.  Keep your heart rate constant and at a level that is recommended for your current condition. Your personal trainer will help you with this.  I am heart wise certified with Ottawa Heart Institute. Trainers that are Heart Wise certified can work with you to target your specific zone.

- Keep your weight in the normal range. Depending on your fitness goals, this range is different for everyone, but there is a general body mass index rule that you can follow, however it is a reading that does not take into account your goals or existing muscle mass if you’ve played sports or have done resistance training.

- See your doctor for regular check-ups.   Get full blood work done. Check the results. Ask to see them.. TRUST ME, doctors are humans and there is always a chance for human error when READING the results.

- Take your medicines exactly as prescribed.  The right type of nutrition and exercise are huge factors in helping reduce your medications, even getting off some types of medications.

- Control your blood sugar if you have diabetes. .Again, The right type of nutrition and exercise are huge factors in helping reduce your diabetes medication for Type I and eventually come off your Type II diabetes medication.

 

What should I do when I’m stressed and crave sugary and salty junk food?

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Well I say when you are stressed or craving things become active.  When you are active you less likely to snack on things that you should not eat.  Snacking on junk food when you are stressed or bored is a learned behavior so you need to change your learned behaviors.

When you are stressed or cravings things start to trigger those thoughts with activity.  If you learn to be active when you are stressed or have cravings sooner or later it will be as natural to be active as it is to reach for food.

Other techniques that I have found to be successful is to drink as much water as possible.  If you are craving but yet you know you should not eat simply drink water.  This will calm the craving and give your mouth that oral fixation.

Finally creating positive affirmations is very powerful.  These affirmations can be limitless but anything that elevates who you are and how you do not need the food you are craving can help.  Use all 3, change you learned behaviors and look at the results, these things are practical, realistic and healthy for your brain and mind.

Create A Morning Routine That Helps You Lose Fat!

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If you eat a decent breakfast and lunch, with perhaps a nutritious snack in between, you should be taking in enough calories to function properly throughout the day and feel alert until dinnertime. After dinner, many of us stop eating and do not eat anything at all until morning, while some of us snack once or continuously. However, throughout the evening and night, the body continues to function and burn calories, even when sleeping. After six to eight hours of sleep, we awake with a need to consume more calories to get through the day.

Morning is the time of day when the body is most depleted of calories. This is a great opportunity to burn fat from the body. Instead of the exercising at night to burn excess calories left over from your last meal, experts suggest a morning workout of the same intensity and length will burn three times as many calories as the afternoon or evening workout. This is simply due to the fact the body will expend the existing calories in the body then will dig down to use excess, stored fat to produce energy.

To get the most out of your morning workout, health experts recommend working out for at least thirty to sixty minutes for optimal fat burning results. Prior to working out, avoid consuming calories of any kind, as the body will use these before they begin to burn the body fat available for energy. Do not worry, however, as a good breakfast is part of a fat burning morning routine when consumed after the morning workout. Exercising in the morning kicks the body’s metabolism into high gear, burning many more calories throughout the day than if you wait to exercise until nighttime.

Of course, part of a fat burning ‘morning routine’ is…well… the routine. By consistently working out each morning, your workout for the day is complete, you’ll be better equipped to cope with the day’s stresses, and you’ll enjoy better impulse control over your food choices throughout the day. Choosing healthy breakfast foods, rather than skipping breakfast, and eating after your workout will significantly curb food cravings throughout the morning until lunch time. When that morning donut cart rolls through your office, you’ll be able to smile confidently and say “No thanks.”

Starting the day with a healthy workout and a nutritious breakfast is your best opportunity to commit to burning fat and getting into serious shape. Fitness expert Rob Lagana is available to help you, and will customize a nutritious, fat burning meal plan to help you reach your goals.

Q&A What is core exercise?

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Core exercise are exercises that focus on either the stabilzation, endurance or strengthening of the core muscles. Core exercises focus on the abdomen, the lower abdomen and hips, the obliques, stabilizing muslces, the spine and the back muslces, as well as the butt. Core exercises train these muscles to work together properly to maintain proper balance, agility, posture and movement to help the body move efficiently as well as preventing injury.

Some examples of core exercises are the plank hold, side plank, floor bridge, bicycle crunches, reach throughs, push ups, back extensions and a number other exercises that focus on the trunk of the body.

The point of core exercises is to train the many large and small muscles that help control and stabilize the spinal column and pelvis to build endurance and strength and be better able to control the spine and pelvis when forces are applied to it during daily activities and physical activities. Core exercises can and should be incorporated into every workout you perform each time you exercise. This can be accomplished by performing as many exercises as possible while having your spine and pelvis unsupported by a bench or seat. This will require the core muscles to engage to stabilize the body.

The Absolute Proven Tip to Avoid Pitfalls in your Training

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Training too often and trying to adapt in too many different ways all at once (power, strength, hypertrophy, endurance) will result in overtraining.

A smart approach is to use periodization training, Periodization training is simply a planned training program. You can have weekly, monthly and yearly plans. It has been shown to be an effective form of program design. The primary benefit is to allow for maximum levels of adaption and minimize overtraining.

You can train different forms of strength and control your volume of training. With periodization training you can write down your progress and then reassess your training either on a weekly or monthly basis. This can help you avoid stagnation, training plateaus, overtraining and assist you with reacher your goal faster.

Overtraining is like an overload to your system. The body can’t keep up with the adaptations your trying to meet in your fitness, bodybuilding or sports training. If your using periodization training for sports, you will greatly benefit by progressively adapting to increased levels of volume training and avoid overtraining.

Some symptoms of overtraining are:

Loss of appetite
Headaches
Depression
Decreased Immunity
Sudden drop in performance
General Bitchiness
Insomnia
Gradual Increase in Muscle Soreness

By using the a planned program such as periodization training, Overtraining syndrome is easily preventable. Unfortunately, most athletes avoid periodaztion training because they rely too much on their instincts. By design your instincts tell you to remain comfortable or ignore the the above symptoms because when you start reaching a over trained state, your instincts which are your internal feedback mechanism will not give you an absolute accurate decision to treat and avoid overtraining.

Q&A What can I do for my low blood pressure?

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In my experience, I have had clients with low blood pressure and they have asked me if their low blood pressure would improve with training. The answer is YES.

Anybody with a reading if 90/60 mmHg or lower is regarded as having hypotension (low blood pressure). People with low blood pressure have some protection from factors which raise blood pressure to undesirable levels. However, low blood pressure may be a sign of an underlying problem, and can cause unpleasant symptoms.

Below are the most common symptoms of hypotension:

Blurred vision
Cold, clammy, pale skin
Depression
Dizziness
Fainting
Fatigue
General feeling of weakness
Nausea
Palpitations
Rapid, shallow breathing
Thirst

Two of the main causes that I see more often in clients are:

Dehydration

When your body loses more water than it takes in you eventually become dehydrated. Hydration levels (levels of water in the body) do not have to drop much before you start feeling dizzy and weak – dehydration-induced weight loss of just 1% can lower blood pressure enough to cause symptoms. Dehydration can be caused by severe diarrhea, vomiting, heat, overusing diuretics, and over-exercising. If water or blood levels drop dramatically the patient can go into hypovolemic shock – the severe water/blood drop in volume means the heart cannot pump the blood properly, resulting in life-threatening hypotension.

Endocrine problems (not including diabetes)

The endocrine system is a system of glands involved in the release of hormones – examples include the thyroid gland, and the adrenal gland. The thyroid gland makes and stores hormones that help in the control of the heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and the rate at which food is broken down and converted into energy (part of metabolism). Low blood pressure can be caused by hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) or hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid). If the adrenal glands do not work properly (adrenal insufficiency) there is also a risk of hypotension – the adrenal glands are located just above each kidney and are chiefly responsible for regulating the stress response.

There are 2 critical things to normalize low blood pressure based on the above potential causes:

1. Drink More Water. The average person that exercises for 30 minutes in a neutral climate with no health issues, needs around 3 liters of pure water a day. Start sipping on water throughout the day until you reach 3 liters and any other fluids on top of that is bonus (Alcohol and Coffee is excluded).

2. Use slow, safe exercise progressions to build muscle. Muscle building exercise raises your T3 (active thyroid) raising your core temperature. Muscle building also reduces overall stress in the body, because in order to build muscle, you must attain an anabolic state. An anabolic state can only be achieved by a healthy strong metabolism.

A health strong metabolism, means that your good hormones and enzymes are being built up at a optimal rate.